Samaritans hopes to reach a broader audience with new website

Samaritans has a new website which will use up-to-the minute digital tools to help people navigate, donate, volunteer, find information and access support.

Press Release

Posted 12th March 2019

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The new website is being launched today (12 March), along with Samaritans’ refreshed brand.

The website will be easy to use and accessible to a wide audience, including young people, with a clean, modern new look. It aims to give users a clear guide and an easy journey.

For example, all the emotional support information pages have been updated and now include a detailed guide about how you can help someone you are worried about.

The new website will enable us to support more people, and it has been informed by extensive research with our target audience, so that it is simple to use and reflects our updated brand.

Paul McDonald, Samaritans’ Executive Director of External Affairs,

Crafted to reflect the brand’s essence of human connection, the new website has been designed and developed by Torchbox, with support from Samaritans’ digital team and other Samaritans staff.

We’re delighted to launch the new Samaritans site today. It’s the first and most visible element of Samaritans’ digital transformation, an ambitious project to re-imagine their online services for people in crisis, volunteers and donors. Samaritans have been challenging, engaged and fun clients, and we’re really happy with what we’ve built together.

Tom Dyson, Technical Director of Torchbox

The website’s look will reflect the refreshed brand’s focus on raising the profile of Samaritans’ prevention and influencing work and encouraging more callers, volunteers, supporters and young people to connect.

In future, more digital support tools, such as online messaging and webchat, will be available to the site’s visitors. When Samaritans was founded in 1953, most people got in touch by phone or face to face at branches, but now people have much more choice about the methods they use to communicate.

The main brand colour will continue to be green, symbolic of positivity and hope, the updated logo includes subtle “notches” inspired by the focus on human connection, and the font, named Varah after Samaritans’ founder Chad Varah, was chosen for its distinctive personality and clean, curved lines.

The photographs have been chosen to tell powerful, real life stories which show moments that help people to connect with one another.

For more information or to arrange interviews, contact Samaritans Media team on 0208 394 8300 or email[email protected]

Pic caption Feeling at home: Samaritans new website launches today

ENDS

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Anyone can contact Samaritans FREE any time from any phone on 116 123, even a mobile without credit. This number won’t show up on your phone bill. Or you can email [email protected] or visit www.samaritans.org to find details of your nearest branch, where you can talk to one of our trained volunteers face to face.

Samaritans responds to more than 5 million calls for help a year.

Samaritans is a charity and it’s the public’s kind donations and more than 20,000 volunteers that mean we are always there for anyone struggling to cope. Find out how you can support us or volunteer with us.

Samaritans is a charity registered in England and Wales (219432) and in Scotland (SC040604) and incorporated in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee (757372). Samaritans Ireland is a charity registered in the Republic of Ireland (20033668) and incorporated in the Republic of Ireland as a company limited by guarantee (450409). Samaritans in Scotland is a charity registered in Scotland (SC009843) and incorporated as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Samaritans Enterprises is a private limited company (01451175).